Kumki elephant gored to death

A 27-year-old tamed/trained kumki elephant of the Forest Department at the Kozhikamudhi elephant camp in Top Slip of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) was gored to death by two male elephants near Thammampathy and Saralapathy on Thursday late evening.

It was involved in a number of rescue and herd-chasing operations. The Kozhikamudhi elephant camp has close to 20 tamed/trained kumki elephants.

The kumki elephant unchained itself and escaped into the wilderness on February 2. Officials said that the elephant was in “musth” and was in search of a female companion. The elephant that made its way to Thammampathy was monitored by the forest staff and tribal watchers of the department.

On Thursday evening, the 9-foot kumki was gored by two elephants possibly because “Karthik” entered their habitation leading to a conflict, officials said.

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